To some, the first watch “complication” was the seconds hand. Of course, over the centuries of watchmaking, the complications have only compounded, growing more and more advanced. With skilled artisans still creating the majority of luxury watch movements, the feats of modern watchmaking are even more amazing. While technology races ahead at the speed of light, it’s important to remember that many of the fine Swiss manufactures employ human hands to craft the most elegant and complicated of movements. So that makes modern watch complications even more impressive – or not, depending on how you look at it. After all, the last several hundred years of watchmaking involved a skilled watchmaker laboring away at a movement made of the tiniest parts somewhere in a Joux Valley workshop. And that’s just when it comes to our modern interpretation of watches. The art of timekeeping dates back tot eh dawn of man, with ancient Egyptians using a 24 hour method of tracking the time on their sundials. Once the watch became more portable, watchmakers needed to devise a way to keep the watch moving, regardless of shifts in temperature that wreaked havoc on springs. Hence the chronometer was born and created more durable and reliable timepieces. From there, the ‘dead second’ complication kept more precise time, allowing the watch to “tick” rather than sweep through time, also allowing the wearer to keep shorter amounts of time, and was a precursor to the chronograph. Meanwhile Breguet was busy pioneering the first Perpetual Calendar, one that wouldn’t be disrupted by Leap Years. And then, the chronograph was born. Perhaps the most important moment in the history of watch complications, the chronograph function finally allowed the watch use of a second hand that functions independent of the hour hand and its time-keeping function. Invented to time horse races, the chronograph marked a quantum leap forward in timekeeping in 1821, with the next boldface moment in watchmaking coming over 100 years later. In 1945, the date function came into existence, allowing the watch’s wearer to remember the date at a glance. The pioneer? None other than Rolex. And these are just the timekeeping complications! This gorgeous inpographic shows off other great moments in Watch Complication History, covering astronomical complications and striking complications. Check it out below!
